I
would like to first pause and pray to honour the
pioneering spirit and many achievements of our founding
fathers. And uphold the honour and glory of our past’s
rich history that are shared between generations with
much love and pride, and hate. Let us take a moment to
thank those who brought us up … who cared for us through
thick and thin … and who challenged us to work hard, to
do our best and never to give up. And let us be guided
by the conviction that no government can build a safer,
better nation alone. And that the great struggles of the
twentieth century between liberty and totalitarianism
ended with a decisive victory for the forces of freedom
– leaving only the single sustainable model for national
success:freedom,
democracy, and free enterprise.

In the
twenty-first century, only nations that share a
commitment to protecting basic human rights, minimizing
corruption and guaranteeing political and economic
freedom will be able to unleash the potential of their
people and assure their future prosperity. People
everywhere want to be able to speak freely; choose who
will govern them; worship as they please; educate their
children - male and female; own property; have access to
basic human needs and enjoy the benefits of their labour.
These values of freedom are right and true for every
person, for every Nigerian in every society - and the
duty of protecting these values lies with the government
of the day. This might well be the new era for Nigeria
amidst inherent economic uncertainty. Nigeria is indeed
a great place to live, work and raise a family. It is
only by working together; we can make it even better. As
we build on the bad of what we have and change what is
necessary, we will improve the lives of everyone who
calls our great country home. So let uswork
assiduously togetherfor
all Nigerians, regardless of our political persuasions.

The Challenges

Life
in Nigeria - the world's sixth largest oil producer
should be better.

Nigerians require decisive action on these issues:
security, corruption, poverty and the economy.

We
certainly face an enormous task in transforming our
economic potential into sustained growth and poverty
reduction. The key to meeting these challenges may lie
more in strategic implementation procedure taking into
account regional and religious factors rather than
economic factors alone. Thus the government will be
required to make aggressive and decisive policy shift to
bedefined
as a continuum of actions roughly divided into certain
phasesand
constantly monitored to be in line with the agenda.

Nigerians truly deserve democracy dividends from the
government. But efforts on several key fronts in the
past have yet to make their impact felt. So many
intelligence debates on policy preferences without
decisive how-to implement policy. Therefore, the social
conditions continue to deteriorate. The incidence of
poverty remains high - at more than 60% - and appears to
be increasing. Public revenue continues to leak away,
especially in the oil sector. Violent social conflicts
have become more frequent. Few states have seen
improvements in water and electricity supplies. Federal
budgetary allocations to health and education have
fallen relative to total fiscal spending, casting doubt
on the government’s commitment to reducing poverty.
Revenue allocations to the states have also fallen, and
unrestricted imports of food continue to undermine the
recovery of agriculture. In the midst of these
shortfalls in realizing democratic dividends, serious
social conflicts have occurred throughout the country,
and the government’s options for effectively addressing
ethnic violence have been limited to the use of force.

But to
build a sound foundation for economic growth and
political stability, government must realistically be
able to diffuse long-standing ethnic and religious
tensions and, by ensuring transparency in government,
reduce the mismanagement of public resources. Government
must be able to also renew the its machinery through a
highly motivated civil service involving Nigerians
foreign trained using not only intelligence debate
policy preferences but how-to implement strategy.

The Promise

It is
at times like these that promise of hope can be
affirmed.

Nigerians are competitive, but compassionate. We are
successful, but believe that no one must be left behind.
We are proud of our achievements, but believe in the
promise of an even brighter future for our nation.

It is
the promise of a better Nigeria that has kept families
together. It is the promise that has inspired
hard-working men and women to build successful
businesses and strong communities. It is the promise
that inspires our citizens -- young and old -- to hope,
dream and achieve.

It is
this promise that will motivate our government to serve
the people and help build a better sovereign future.

Our government
must believe that strong leadership is about
consultation, not capitulation. It is about principles,
not ideology. It is about balancing priorities for all,
not giving in to the interests of a few.

Most
importantly, it is about encouraging people to share
their ideas, work together and speak their minds. That's
why government of the day should launch an innovative
how-to implement consultation process.

Today,
as never before, the people have spoken:

Nigerians said they want a strong economy that
creates jobs and lets them keep their hard-earned
wages. The government should listen.

Nigerians said they are ashamed of our nation's
health care system and want it strengthened. The
government should listen.

They are calling for schools that promote excellence
and equality of opportunity. The government should
listen

They are asking for some basic human necessities
like water, electricity and roads for now and future
generations. They are demanding that government be
more accountable in its spending. They want the
streets to be safer and secure homes.

To
these requests, and more, the government should listen
and act accordingly. Some might say that listening is an
end in itself. But governments should believe it is only
a good beginning.

Today's government should set out an ambitious action
plan to keep our economy competitive and compassionate
-- to display the values of hard work, humility and
excellence seen so rare in our citizens.

Ourgovernment
must have a plan to build a better quality of life for
every Nigerian family.

To
create an equal opportunity for success.

To
support the most vulnerable.

Today, the government MUST resolve to devote its
energy and experience to seeing the promise of
One-Nigeria fulfilled.